Hockey style baseball masks

[LMan]

just as a data point, one of the umps here locally got his ear busted up pretty badly from a foul ball the other day....went off his shoulder pad up into his ear, right behind the facemask extension. Bled a good deal, and his ear is one big black-and-blue mess now

..couldnt help thinking, while talking to him, that a hockey-style mask might have saved his ear...